Medical marijuana users and daily recreational users need a bit more time to completely detox—about 50 to even 70 days. Some 77% of heavy users and 39% of light users produced positive tests. No non-users had positive test results, suggesting that false positives in hair tests are relatively rare. Drug tests can detect relatively small quantities of THC, and the amount of THC in a given cannabis cigarette varies. However, little research has examined how much a person must smoke to fail a drug test. Research on how long a test can detect cannabis shows a wide range of averages.

Causes & Risk Factors

• Because THC is broken down pretty quickly into molecules called metabolites, it is detectable in the blood for the shortest amount of time.
• If you smoke or vape weed, THC enters your bloodstream through your lungs, then moves to your brain and other organs.
• Abe pioneered and published first-author research with the Cannabis…
• The best way to pass a drug test is to not use cannabis at all.
• A high metabolic rate may shorten the duration of a cannabis high, as the body processes and eliminates THC more quickly.

The leaves, seeds, stems, or roots, are mainly used for intoxication purposes. Marijuana preparations are usually smoked in pipes, joints, or water pipes (bongs). Approximately, 11.8 million young adults used marijuana in 2018.

How Long Does Weed Stay in Your System? Blood Tests

After this process, the THC and its metabolites will be excreted in your urine or stool. Sometimes THC can also be stored in your organs or fatty tissues – meaning those with higher levels of fat molecules may metabolise THC more slowly. Once inhaled, THC from cannabis enters your bloodstream via your lungs (or via your liver if the cannabis was ingested). Marijuana, also known as weed, cannabis or pot, is a drug that’s derived from the cannabis sativa plant.

How long does weed stay in your system? When different drug tests can detect cannabis

People with faster metabolisms typically eliminate THC more quickly than those with slower metabolisms. While drinking lots of water is unlikely to affect a drug test significantly, severe dehydration might. There’s no simple answer since everyone’s body and situation is different. Among the things that how long does weed stay in your system influence how long a drug test can detect weed use are your metabolism, how often you use weed, how strong it is, and what type of test you’re taking. The test is cheap, and results can be ready in as little as 10 minutes.

This helps us understand how long cannabis stays in urine and how it affects us after smoking. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main active part of cannabis. Any short-term effects from cannabis, from the high it delivers to physical side-effects, tend to wear off after 1-3 hours. This can vary depending on the strength and drug, how much was taken and over what period. Overall, the length of time that weed stays in your system can vary depending on a variety of factors. If you are concerned about passing a drug test, it’s important to consider these factors and take steps to support the elimination of cannabis compounds from your body.

It may be best to opt for an edible or smokable option with a lower potency that provides effects that aren’t as extreme. Hair follicle tests can detect weed for up to 90 days after last consumption, for most users. However, studies show some frequent cannabis users’ blood will test positive even after seven days of abstinence. Blood testing for cannabis is more useful for catching recent use, like saliva. THC-COOH will only be detectable in the blood for a couple of days after your last use. If you’ve smoked 2 to 4 times recently but didn’t use it since, weed will stay in your urine for 10 to 18 days.

Just 5 days after eating an edible, 80 to 90% of THC gets flushed out but the remaining 10% can be detected for up to 4 weeks. The problem is that you can test positive to THC without even being high, so it’s still very difficult to determine if the driver is actually impaired or not. If you are a regular heavy user (or a daily medical user), weed can stay in your saliva for up to a week. If you’ve used marijuana just once, weed will stay in your urine for about 7 days.